Veganuary 2022 Mini-Series: Part 1

Cooking our Organic Sunflower Mince with Marshall

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A quick introduction: Hi my name is Marshall and I’ve worked at Earthian for roughly 6 months now and I know I’ve met a lot of you and you’ve been so welcoming so thank you. Since I started working here back in June 2021 I have been singing the praises of the sunflower mince as I fell in love with it before I worked here. I’ve been sharing my love for this product with you all and I’m sure I’ve told some of you how I primarily use this mince for a quick and easy stir fry dinner. So now I’m here to share a recipe for how exactly I stir fry the mince and what I usually pair it with along with some other tips and ideas to inspire you to use this sunflower mince in unique ways.

Simple Sunflower Stir Fry

• Generously serves 2

• Vegan

• Gluten free options

• The sunflower mince is organic and all the other ingredients can be bought organic too.

Pictures above show the stir fry paired with rice (left) and noodles (right). Ingredients: 1 medium carrot 1 green pepper 50g sunflower mince 1/4 cup (roughly, more or less to suit your taste) soy sauce (or tamari for a gluten free option) Optional (but recommended): 1-2 garlic cloves (1/2 tsp garlic powder) A thumb of ginger (1/2 tsp ground ginger ) A pinch of chilli flakes. Spring onions (either to stir fry or as a topping) Serving suggestions: This recipe is really simple and can be paired with whatever to make a quick fulfilling dinner. My go to is to serve with jasmine rice ( I use 150g for 2 people) however it can also be served with noodles and I have also had it as a taco/wrap filling. (Towards the end of this post I will share how I make easy wraps to avoid the plastic wrapped ones in super markets.) Method:

1. Peel and juilliene the carrot. Thinly slice the pepper. If using, finely dice the garlic and ginger.

2. Heat your pan (medium- high). Add whatever oil you like (toasted sesame oil adds more flavour and is often used in stir frys but I find vegetable oil to be fine.)

3. Add in the carrot and pepper and sauté for a couple of minutes, until the carrot is softened a little.

4. Add in garlic and ginger (whether ground or fresh) and let sauté for about a minute. (If having with rice this is when I would start cooking it.)

5. Next add in your sunflower mince. Mix it in well with the vegetables.

6. Add a generous splash of soy sauce as well as salt and pepper. Keep stirring. When this soy sauce has all been soaked into the mince add 1/2 cup of water (I sometimes use veg stock) and let simmer.

7. This part probably takes no more than 5 minutes. If the pan becomes dry and the mince is not soft enough either add another generous splash of soy or water.

8. When done if having with rice I simply have my rice in my bowl first and then top with the sunflower mince stir fry (I often sprinkle chilli flakes on top).

This meal is easy and I feel it has so many options for customisation, for instance I’ve just gone with the simple pairing of carrot and green pepper but you can add whatever vegetables you like. You can also add different spices and herbs to make it your own, sometimes I like to add cumin as it really compliments the earthiness of the mince and the soy sauce too.

If you're having it in tacos/ wraps I make the following wraps before making the mince.

Plastic free homemade wraps

Ingredients: 160g flour of choice (I usually use plain white not self raising) 100ml warm water Salt and pepper, other spices if wanted.

Method:

1. Weigh out your flour in a large bowl. Mix in salt, pepper and any spices if using.

2. Using a fork to stir I slowly add the water a little at a time until I have formed a dough. Don’t worry if it’s a little wet just add more flour in the next step.

3. Place a sprinkling of flour on your clean work surface and gently knead the dough into a smooth ball. (No longer than a minute.)

4. Using a knife cut into 2 for two large tortilla wraps or into 4-6 for smaller wraps for tacos.

5. Roll out each wrap. Be careful not to make it too thin as when cooking it’ll be crispy, but don’t make it too thick either.

6. Heat a large pan on medium-high. Do not add oil.

7. When the pan is ready place a wrap in. Give it roughly a minute or two and then flip. Cook until you get a few brown spots.

8. Prepare a sheet of aluminium foil ( we sell recycled aluminium foil at the shop!) Bring the wrap out onto the foil and carefully (it’s hot!) roll it up. This allows it to be flexible when it comes to using it as a wrap or taco.

9. Repeat with the other wraps. When each one is done unroll the foil and add it on top and then reroll.

Note: it’s easy to multiply this recipe to make more wraps at once! I hope that you agree that this is a really quick and simple way of using this unique and nutritious plant based mince and if you do try it out do let me know in the shop how it went and also feel free to chat with me about the ways in which you use this mince (and any other recipes for that matter!)

Other uses for Sunflower Mince

Lastly, I said I would share some other inspiration. So below is three other meals in which I’ve used the sunflower mince.

This is not as wholesome, as it is not completely plastic free but recently I made a vegan meat feast pizza and along with various meat substitutes from the supermarket I added some of the sunflower mince.

I simply added it to a small pan with soy sauce and some water (much like in the recipe above) and when I deemed it cooked added it on top of the pizza before it went in the oven.

Soon I plan to do this but subbing the supermarket alternatives for homemade seitan sausages.

Stir fried sunflower mince as part of a Buddha bowl. Made with:

• Fried pinapple

• Stir fried sunflower mince

• Grilled portobello mushroom strips

• Lightly stir fried radish slices

• Rice, flavoured with ginger

I hope this post has inspired you and I look forward to chatting with you in shop!

Marshall